The Fayette Citizen-Sports Page

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Fayette wins two over Starr’s Mill

By MONROE ROARK
mroark@TheCitizenNews.com

The Fayette County Tigers pulled off a two-game sweep in varsity basketball action Friday at home against Starr’s Mill, with the boys winning 58-54 and girls prevailing 46-40.

The Lady Tigers extended their winning streak to 10 games with the victory over the Lady Panthers. Camille Lilly scored 14 points for Fayette County, followed by Kristin Bunch with 10 and Richea Harris with 7. Jenny Norman of Starr’s Mill led all scorers with 24, while Ashley Marine added 11.

The Panthers led much of the boys game, including a 30-25 halftime advantage, before the Tigers went up 38-37 at the end of the third period. Jordan Windisch hit a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help Fayette County open up a late lead, and the home team hung on for the win.

Windisch and Sheldon Harris finished the game with 14 points apiece, while Robert Alvarez scored 13 and sank three three-pointers. Caleb Graham of Starr’s Mill led all scorers with 20, while Chris Hadzick and Nick Plotner added 9 each.

The Tigers lost a pair to Riverdale Saturday night, as the boys fell 84-69 and the girls lost a close 53-49 game to the tenth-ranked Lady Raiders. Tiffany Norris led the Lady Tigers with 22 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. The Lady Tigers were 12-7 overall and 7-4 in Region 4-AAAAA going into Tuesday night’s games.

Starr’s Mill hosted Lovejoy Saturday, and the Wildcats won the boys game 66-53. After Lovejoy opened up an early 11-4 advantage, the Panthers went on a 9-1 run to take the lead and went into the locker room at intermission up 27-25. Lovejoy opened up a 12-point lead in the third before the Panthers closed to within five, but the Wildcats extended it to 18 before closing out the win.

The contest was marred by a host of fouls, as Lovejoy converted 24 of 32 from the line and Starr’s Mill made 21 of 33. Graham finished with 25 to lead the Panthers and Nick added 11. Derek Brooks scored 22 for Lovejoy and Michael Sloan finished with 20.

The Panthers sank 22 of 26 free throws to defeat visiting Newnan 62-50 Jan. 13. Newnan helped the Starr’s Mill effort by coverting only 6 of 18 opportunities at the foul line.

Trailing 13-6 after the first quarter, the Panthers rallied to take a 28-23 lead into the dressing room at halftime and increased their lead to 46-32 to end the third period. Newnan cut the lead to 4 with 3 minutes to play, but the Panthers iced the game at the line.

Graham scored 20, including 7 of 8 free throws, while Mike Mock scored 17 and Andy Drum added 12. Both Mock and Drum were 5 of 6 at the line. Jamelle Farmer led Newnan in scoring with 14 points.

The Sandy Creek Patriots improved their record to 13-5 overall and 10-2 in Region 4-AAAA with their most recent wins, 61-44 over Chapel Hill Friday and 62-53 over East Coweta Saturday. Beginning with last night’s game against Lithia Springs, one of only two region teams to beat the Patriots (the other is Douglas County), Sandy Creek has a three-week stretch with only one road game (against Woodward).

“The kids are playing hard,” said head coach Maurice Triche, who especially noted the play of his bench, which has gotten significant playing team of late. Triche said that he prefers to go 10 players deep whenever possible and is counting on this homestand to give the Patriots even more momentum as the team jockeys for position going into the playoffs.

The Landmark Lady War Eagles improved their record to 10-10 after Saturday night’s 52-48 win over W.D. Mohammed. Erin Camp scored 16 and Merritt Tidwell added 10 for Landmark, which has come on strong after a 2-6 start.

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